Schools

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- Sixteen of DeKalb County's 22 public high schools have been named to a statewide Advanced Placement honor roll.

The College Board's AP program gives high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses. At the end of the school year, the students are tested on their knowledge. AP exams earn scores of 1 through 5; receiving a 3, 4 or 5 could result in college credit.

"DeKalb students are succeeding in college-level learning," DeKalb County School District Superintendent Michael Thurmond said. "With more than 70 percent of our high schools on the AP honor roll, we are proud of the district's overall success. Our goal is to be 100 percent."

AP schools are honored in six categories:

AP Challenge Schools are schools with fewer than 900 students where AP exams are offered in four key areas -- English, math, science and social studies.* DeKalb School of the Arts* Elizabeth Andrews High School

(WXIA) -- Georgia Connections Academy, a free statewide virtual K-12 school, will begin accepting applications for the 2015-16 school year next month.

Enrollment opens Mar. 3. The school can support 4,000 students; spaces are limited and families are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

A free parent information session will be held Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Hampton Inn Atlanta-Perimeter Center, which is located at 769 Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs. Teachers and currently enrolled families will answer questions and go over the school's curriculum at the session.

LILBURN, Ga. -- More than 1,400 children will receive free dental treatments this week.

Students at Lilburn Elementary School in Gwinnett and Hightower Elementary School in DeKalb will be given dental sealants and fluoride treatments, courtesy of a $45,000 grant to the Georgia Oral Health Prevention Program from Renaissance Dental. Both procedures are very effective in helping to reduce tooth decay and other oral problems in children, according to a Renaissance Dental spokesperson.

The students will receive their treatments on Thursday and Friday.

Georgia ranks 49th in the U.S. in number of dentists per capita, and 16 counties do not have a single practicing dentist, according to Renaissance Dental.

(WXIA) -- More than 100 public schools in three metro Atlanta counties will benefit from Chevron's Fuel Your School program.

Through the campaign, Chevron contributes $1 from every gasoline purchase of eight gallons or more to participating schools. Fuel Your School generated $391,146 for 131 schools in Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties.

Many of the projects that are granted funds from the program are part of STEM curriculums. For example, students at Grady High School in Atlanta received a data-gathering device to use in their physics courses.

Chevron said nearly 40,000 students are impacted by the money generated through Fuel Your School.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- Chiquita Handley said she didn't realize how bad it was until she saw the surveillance video.

"I saw it and my heart just dropped," she said. "It's nothing anyone ever wants to see their child go through."

Handley spoke exclusively with 11Alive's Blayne Alexander, after obtaining surveillance video showing Pleasantdale Elementary School teacher Stephanie Fleet appearing to choke Handley's son Ravon, then in the 5th grade. The incident happened on May 22, but Handley received the video months later, after filing an open records request with DeKalb County schools.

According to written statements from other students and teachers in the cafeteria, Ravon was being disruptive, using profanity and threatened to hit Fleet.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- DeKalb County School District Superintendent Michael Thurmond has been named to Georgia Trend magazine's latest list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians.

Thurmond has served as superintendent since February 2013. He is the only public schools superintendent to receive the honor.

His recognition in the magazine says:

The former commissioner of labor inherited a mess when he took over leadership of the third-largest school system in Georgia (100,000 students, 14,000 employees and a $1.2 billion budget). He stabilized the troubled district, built a $30 million surplus, improved student achievement and increased graduation rates. Along the way, he has enhanced the reputation as a leader and public education advocate.